deSoto, Titling, WorldBank policy ...

id21: "Land titles have been promoted by liberal economists such as Hernando de Soto on the assumption that they account for the affluence of the West and that if the poor had clear titles and rights enforceable in law over the land and property they live in they would be able to obtain credit and lever themselves out of poverty and into capitalist affluence. The evidence, even in Peru where de Soto's ideas have been most widely applied through government led titling programmes, is that increased access to credit for those granted titles is minimal. To date, the link between the provision of titles and poverty reduction remains unproven. "